A report from Rob:
Durisdeer is a remote but charming village somewhere north of Dumfries. A long way to travel even for Scottish runners. But I was on my way back from visits to my daughters in Glasgow and Loch Goil (more dad-haulage than dad-taxi) and it was sort of on the way home for me and Juliet. The hills in this part of the world are steep sided but from a distance appear grassy, green, runnable even. Up close the terrain is far more tricky and it is easy to get stuck in bog, beck and tussock. And this was our experience as we toiled up the valley that had looked rather pleasant on the map. The highest point on Well Hill gave amazing views across to the sea. But there was no time to hang around and eyes needed to be on the tussocks ahead as we crashed down the steep hills to the finish.
Rob and Juliet just visible in the background
Delicious sandwiches and cakes were served by the good folk of Durisdeer, upstairs in their amazingly historic church.
This was a counter for both Scottish and British Championships. The standard in these championship races is ridiculously high and I find it a challenge to reach the top 5 in my age category.
The keen eyed might spot that I run on the fells for Cheshire Hill Racers rather than donning the blue and gold of Wilmslow. CHR was formed some years ago (by Tony of course) as a fell racing club that could bring together runners from the different road running clubs across our area to create a team that could compete against the big Lakeland and Yorkshire clubs that dominate the championships. We’ve not really succeeded but have a laugh trying.
Results below:
| Pos | Runner | Club | Cat | Chip | Gun |
| 1 | Finlay Wild | Lochaber AC | M | 01:23:20 | 01:23:20 |
| 51 | Eve Pannone | Eden Runners | F | 01:51:19 | 01:51:22 |
| 73 | Rob Downs | Cheshire H R | M55 (3/14) | 01:58:09 | 01:58:14 |
| 102 | Juliet Downs | Dark Peak | F (7/20) | 02:08:58 | 02:09:01 |
| 170 | Runners |